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Date: 02 November 2009 Author: Tony Butler, Chief Technology OfficerPutting a value on the pre-sales process
As this is my first entry on the Intact blog, I thought I would highlight a topic that is a little more generic rather than focus on a specific technology issue.
Earlier this year while in Istanbul I noticed a beggar pause in his solicitations to take a call on his mobile phone. I was initially surprised, but should I have been? Based on the fact that there is now one mobile phone for every two people on the planet I guess not.
Couple this with the fact that an average smartphone now has more processing power than the entire American Air Defence Command could call on in 1965, then it’s no surprise that IT Directors get fed up of hearing they should upgrade their technology infrastructure to support their changing business needs. Now that Unified Communications is becoming more mature, do we actually need to implement better technology, or should we be getting smarter at doing better things with the technology we have?
My opinion is it’s probably a combination of the two. However, the unfortunate reality is that very few organisations really make the most of the technology they have invested in. During my career I’ve seen hundreds of organisations go through the procurement process for a new system, and frequently so much emphasis is placed on the brand, specification, features and functions of a solution that suppliers and integrators often fail to drill down to the heart of ‘what the client actually wants’.
Perhaps this is partly due to clients not really knowing what it is that they actually want from a solution in the first place. Certainly in the SMB market there’s often a strong disinclination to pay for consultancy or advice to define the scope of a project – the expectation is that this kind of engagement should be covered by ‘free pre-sales’. However, would the customer be prepared to pay for pre-sales if the value was clearer? Our experience and recent client engagements at Intact tells us that the answer is definitely ‘yes’!
Tony Butler
Chief Technology Officer
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